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Monday, June 25, 2007

The Wild Bunch, the professional dance team of the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth, will hold auditions for the 2008 team on Tuesday, August 7 at 7 p.m. An invitation-only final audition will be held on Wednesday, August 8 at 7 p.m.

The Wild Bunch performs at every Mammoth home game during the season. It is a paid position and dancers receive additional money for local appearances.

Before the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders reappeared in the early 90s, after a decade or more of absence, Broncos fans were entertained by the Pony Express. Here, the gals of the Pony Express pal around with St. Nick. The question is this: were some of them really really tall? Or are a few of them just really really short?

Fort Collins resident Sara Von Gillern is busting some serious moves on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. The Rocky's Erika Gonzalez talked to the 23-year-old break dancer (and former member of the Denver Nuggets hip-hop dance team) about her experience on the show so far.

Answer: Actually, it's funny - although they've been calling me the B-girl, it's the most recent dance style I've picked up. I've been dancing in modern, jazz and tap since I was a little kid. One thing I haven't done is partnering, so the ballroom styles are something I'm a little more nervous about. But all the guys in the competition are amazing.

Q: How did you get into break dancing while living in Fort Collins? It's not exactly known as a hip-hop mecca.

A: No, not at all. I was in a dance program at CSU and a few girls picked up that I was more a hip-hop girl and they knew a great place in Boulder that specialized in hip-hop styles. That's where I met my first break-dancing mentor. Then, there was an event called Elemental Flavors (in Denver) and that's where I first saw B-girls - really sick B-girls, who had come out from Seattle, Japan, all over the world. That's when I just fell in love.

Q: What's a typical day like for you?

A: Every day we're dancing. There's not really a day off. You have rehearsal with a choreographer, and then you want to work with your partner even more. Everyone here is an amazing dancer, but we're also being pulled out of our comfort zones by doing different styles, and you really have to adapt to that choreography. You're constantly practicing. It's mentally and physically exhausting.

Q: Who's the toughest judge?

A: The hardest has to be Mia (Michaels). When all the other judges were saying, "Yes, you've made it through," she was saying no, or when they said no, she said yes. She's looking for something different. She's the only one who gave me a no throughout the whole Vegas process. So for me, she's the one to impress.

Q: Do you have any killer move to wipe out the competition?

A: Because I am the only B-girl, I will be breaking. There are a lot of contemporary girls here, so they'll be doing pirouettes and extensions and I'll be getting down and dirty on the floor.

Q: Who's your dream partner?

A: "I'm going to have to say my boyfriend, who is also a breaker. He inspires me so much."

Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Arena Football League's playoffs begin this week and while the match-up for ArenaBowl XXI is yet to be determined, there is one team that has been assured a trip to New Orleans. The Aaron's AFL Dream Team will ascend upon the Crescent City throughout ArenaBowl XXI Weekend with numerous appearances and performances.

Throughout the first 14 weeks of the regular season, AFL fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorite team dancers. The top vote getter for each team represents their franchise on the Aaron's AFL Dream Team, which will be directed by Dallas Desperados Dancers' Director JENNY DURBAN. More than 77,000 votes were registered on arenafootball.com earning the following dancers spots on the 2007 Aaron's AFL Dream Team:

"For the third year, Aaron's has had an overwhelming response from the fans to choose who they'd like to be part of the Aaron's AFL Dream Team," said KEN BUTLER, President of Aaron's. "Aaron's is a proud supporter of the Arena Football League and enjoys getting fans involved in the sport. The Aaron's AFL Dream Team is a reflection of the fans, they vote on which of their favorite dancers should represent each team at the ArenaBowl. Aaron's is known for making dreams come true and the Dream Team is a direct reflection of this. The Aaron's AFL Dream Team is not dependent on who makes it to the ArenaBowl, they each get to represent their hometown and perform together as the best of the best."

The Aaron's AFL Dream Team will perform at New Orleans Arena during ArenaBowl XXI, at Discover Card FanFest and at the ADT ArenaBall Awards Gala. The Dream Team will make various local appearances over the weekend including stops at an Aaron's Store and ArenaBowl XXI Radio Row.

"The Aaron's Dream Team promotion created even more of a positive response this year than the previous two," said WILL WILSON, EVP, AFL Sales. "We're thrilled that the success of the Aaron's Dream Team promotion continues to not only generated traffic for arenafootball.com but also for shopaarons.com."

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Cheeracise™ is the new fitness for all generations wanting a fun way to improve health. Rooted in professional cheerdancing, Cheeracise™ flavors dance aerobics with traditional cheerleading moves, presenting an electric, fitness (Beyonce-ish) atmosphere within a friendly, inspiring and supportive (Regis and Kelly Live) setting.

The key to all fitness and weight loss is aerobic activity. More importantly, finding the inspiration for exercise commitment. Experiencing Cheeracise™ is far different than following the typical super buff girl leading two other super buff girls through grapevines at the beach. Providing an easy to follow, dance-cardio routine, Cheeracise™ encourages everyone to join no matter what the age, fitness level, aerobic or dance experience. All unique, Cheeracise™ cardio routines are broken into special, aerobic 8-counts that teach the dance while providingt a fun, aerobic workout. Everyone who dances, wants to dance or misses dance will enjoy Cheeracise™ and stimulate a fun way of losing weight or staying in shape.

All who want to improve their health without going to extremes will appreciate the Cheeracise™ philosophy that stresses adjusting to a moderately healthier lifestyle will result in a naturally fitter life. Struggling with fad diets, unsatisfying choices of pricey diet foods and extreme fitness commitments that bring frustration with health consciousness, is not the way to live. Moderate exercise and moderate control over calories will naturally make a body feel and look healthier. If a french fry is beggin to be eaten, eat it. Eat a few. After that few, toss them. Sure you'll be tossing away a few cents, but you'll also be tossing away some calories. Who wouldn't toss twenty-five pennies into a pond in exchange of losing excess calories?

Cheeracisers™ are current and previous professional and collegiate cheerleaders, dancers and cheerleading coaches whom are friendly, fun and inviting. All Cheeracisers™ have cheered or danced in some aspect, whether high school, college or pro. Many are proficient in dance and aerobic choreography. We're proud of the dedication they've given to their dancing and cheering and now, Cheeracise™.

Everyone will enjoy the fun routines taught and encouraged by Cheeracisers™ who, like Cheerleaders, exhibit health, athleticism, dedication and camraderie.

America's most famous cheerleader, Paula Abdul, wants to help you take your cheerleading skills to new heights AND get you into the best shape of your life! Whether you're looking to ace tryouts, impress the judges at competition or just have a great time working out with friends, this five-disc set will give you the flexibility, endurance, moves and power to achieve all your goals.

Featuring two of Colorado's own cheerleading sweethearts, former Denver Broncos Cheerleader Renee Herlocker and current DBC, Candice Jones. Let's get to know them:

RENEE HERLOCKER

Renee feels like she's grown up as Denver Bronco's cheerleader, having first started on the squad at the age of 18. Six years later, Renee is not only the captain of the squad but believes that "being on the squad really has helped me develop as a person. As a professional cheerleader you find yourself constantly out in the community, interacting with people and the media, and doing charity work," like when the Colorado native traveled to Washington D.C. to visit injured troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. "Having all these experience has really built my confidence and sense of self." Renee has also begun modeling and has traveled to Hong Kong in 2000 to perform in the Chinese New Year parade and was selected to go to Mexico City as a NFL representative to promote the Super Bowl to NFL Mexico.

Before joining the Bronco's, Renee cheered on both her high school and college squads. Renee's family is her greatest inspiration (her mother was on the original Bronco's cheerleading squad) and she has a considerable soft spot in her heart for her three-year-old Golden Retriever, Huebert Tucker Monroe (Huey).

CANDICE JONES

When Candice Jones moved to Denver after spending six months teaching English in Thailand, she called on her considerable background in dance (including a two year stint on the National Champion Cougarettes, Brigham Young University's dance team and time spent a soloist with Brigham Young University's Theatre Ballet) to audition for the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. "I was thrilled when I was chosen," Candice reports, "partly because I just LOVE to dance and partly because of how involved the Broncos organization is with the community." Every week, Candice and other members of the squad meet with teenagers from the Boys and Girls Club teaching them healthily lifestyle habits (like exercise and good nutrition) and dance.

Now in her second year with the Broncos and one of four co-captains for the squad, Candice also credits cheer and dance with giving her discipline and great time management skills. And she needs them, in addition to performing at games, Candice also teaches dance at a Denver studio and has a full-time job at an Arts Management company. On her down time Candice likes to go travel, go sky diving and, occasionally, cage diving with great white sharks.

Former Denver Broncos Cheerleader Renee Herlocker represented the Red Bull Formula Unas at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis from June 14-17. Out of the ten girls she was chosen to be the Formula Una USA. Renee will be traveling to Brazil for their Grand Prix in October.

The text reads:

Every other working day of the year Renee presents sports programmes on TV stations in her home town of Denver, Colorado. But for the last four days she's been representing the States as an Una. How did she find the whole F1/Red Bull experience?

"It was rad. one amazing experience. The people at Formula one and Red Bull have been really cool"

And the racing?

"I've been to Champ Car races in Denver, but this was my first time at Formula One. The cars are so technically detailed and intricate. I'm definitely going to be watching from now on."

Following tonight's Red Bull celebrations, the next time we'll see the 26 year-old Renee is in Sao Paulo. Which can't come soon enough for the engineers who took a great deal of keen interest (and several pictures on their phones) during Renee's photo shoot.

You can see the Grand Prix program featuring Renee here. (Adobe Reader req.)

Monday, June 18, 2007

Meet Julee LovatoCurrent member of the AFL Kansas City Brigade Girls and former member of the Belles Performance Team.

I am so excited to be back for my second year with the Brigade! Since moving from a small mountain town near Vail, CO, I have made Kansas City my home. Some of the things I love about Kansas City are the jazz music and of course the barbeque; it has become one of my favorite meals!

I am fortunate to have been raised by loving parents. They provided me with a strong foundation and taught me to “Live the Life I Love.” I do miss my parents at times, but the Brigade Girls have become my family away from home and I love them all! It also helps to have my cat Nellie with me, who is the cutest thing ever! When I am not cheering on the Brigade I work for a non-profit organization. We strive to help children all over the world overcome the burdens of poverty. We also try to help kids become healthy, educated, and contributing members of society.

I find my job to be very rewarding, but my true passion has always been dance. Some of my dance accomplishments include: Walt Disney World Florida, Pro Danza Italia, and choreography for the Coors Silver Bullet Girls, who worked with Snoop Dogg and The Game. I have been told by several people that I look like Penelope Cruz. I don’t think so, but I will let you be the judge. I can’t wait to get on the field and cheer on the Brigade!

This week, the top 20 dancers hit the stage for the first round of competition on "So You Think You Can Dance." Congratulations to Sara VonGillern for not only making the top 20, but surviving the first elimination. Sara used to dance for the NBA Denver Nuggets Mob Squad and the AFL Colorado Crush City Dancers.

The Colorado Eagles are looking for dancers, who are dynamic, well spoken, and talented to represent our organization. If you have the drive and dedication that it takes, then come and tryout to be an Eagles Chick!

I just spent the majority of my evening going though dance routines from our training camp several weeks ago. We learned a lot of material- 13 different dances in one weekend! We put them all on a DVD and must have a couple of them ready for practice. Tomorrow we’ll be practicing “Move” and I needed to review some of the choreography, as well as review all the old material we went over the past couple of weeks.

Last weekend was Fan Fair. All the cheerleaders, players, coaches, and alumni made appearances at INVESCO Field to meet the fans. I love Fan Fair, but unfortunately there was not enough time to meet everyone we wanted to meet. This is such a great opportunity to interact with the fans and I was thankful I was able to talk to as many as I did. We performed two dances each day — Summer Love and China Grove. They were a lot of fun and it’s always good practice to get out on the field to dance before the season starts up.

The following day, many of the girls volunteered at Mike Shanahan’s golf tournament. Mike Shanahan puts on a golf tournament every year and the money raised goes to charity. This year, the money went to the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center. The group of guys I rode around with that day included Rod Smith and Keith Burns. They are both outstanding guys and it was good to spend some time with them and get to know them a little, as I had never met either in the past.

And finally, I worked a promotion at INVESCO Field for a global financial organization with nine other cheerleaders. They were having a conference in Denver and people from 60 different countries showed up. Approximately 4,000 - 5,000 people were in attendance and we took pictures with many of the guests and performed a few routines on the field. I met people from all over the world — Thailand, Japan, India, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Taiwan, Jamaica, Canada — you name it.

We’ve got our calendar shoot and head shots coming up in the next few weeks. I’ll keep you posted on how they go!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Introducing the newest dance team for the Colorado Football Conference Amateur Football League, the Pony Xpress! A group of talented and beautiful women who will be performing on the sidelines and half time during the Southern Colorado Mustangs games this summer. Home games will be played at Washburn field in Colorado Springs.

Movers & Shakers: Mickey, Jennifer, Heidi, Maliakah, Ciara, and Lisa are all former members of the Belles Performance Team. Congratulations ladies on this new venture!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

April Glaser is the Dance Director for the 2007 Denver Outlaws Dance Team.

April has an extensive background in many forms of dance and was a Broncos Cheerleader for the past three seasons. She is a certified yoga instructor and teaches at the Alchemy of Movement in Boulder as well as the Lakeshore Athletic Club in Flatirons.

April is also involved with an after school outreach program teaching yoga classes to young children. April is committed to giving back to the community and currently volunteers at Boulder Mental Health in the Youth and Advocacy Program.

Greetings to all in BroncoLand!!! My name is Terita Johnson and I am this week’s guest blogger. I am a 2nd year veteran of the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders (DBC) and couldn’t be happier to return to the team for another great season. Although I am a native of Chicago, IL…Denver, CO is a great place to consider my second home!!

In my hometown of Chicago, I have 2 wonderful parents (Terry and Gayle), 2 sisters (Aretha and Sonya) and a 3-year-old nephew (Kendall “Berry”). Now that I have settled in my new home of Colorado, I miss them dearly. But, I guess you have to grow up and leave home at some point.

Now that I am here in Colorado, I have started some new chapters in my book of life, with one of them being continuing my education. I have just recently began a program to acquire my Ph.D. in Counseling with an emphasis in School Counseling. I already have my BS in Speech Communications and my MA in Secondary Education. So you should be on the lookout for Dr. Terita in the coming years!!

Another chapter includes entering my second season as a DBC!!

This past weekend, we completed our Training Camp at INVESCO Field at Mile High to kickoff our 2007 season. It was great!! I must admit that going through this camp for the second time was a little bit easier to handle than going through it my rookie year. I was a mess after last season’s training camp. Not to say that this season was a breeze. Training camp is a ton of hard work. But the support of our directors, captains and teammates pushed us through such a rigorous weekend of dancing and learning.

We learned 13 routines from the most awesome choreographer in America, in my opinion. His name is John Peters, but we call him “JP”. He has a list of credentials that will knock your socks off considering the fact that he has choreographed for various NBA, NFL and championship Cheerleading teams. However, it’s not just his fun and energetic choreography that makes him so great. It’s his ability to make a dancer want to learn more and more and have fun doing it. JP’s enthusiasm, colloquialisms and love for dance and performance is just the beginning of why the weekend was so enjoyable and successful. If this season’s Training Camp is indicative of what the 2007 Broncos Season has in store, I am ecstatic about the future!!!

As DBC gets closer and closer to other important events in our season, I look forward to blogging again soon. There is something that I try to do for anyone that I encounter and that’s to leave a lasting impression each time we part ways that would make you smile if you think back on our experience with each other. So I leave anyone that comes across this blog with this: “Be Kinder Than Necessary, for Everyone That You Meet Is Fighting Some Kind Of Battle.”

The “Ultimate Broncos Experience” is back! The fifth annual Denver Broncos Fan Fair returns to INVESCO Field at Mile High the weekend of June 2 and 3 and will once again be packed full of events tailor-made for those that bleed orange and blue.

Like past years, every Broncos player and coach is scheduled to attend throughout the weekend along with notable alumni, and Miles the mascot and, of course, the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. The two-day extravaganza will have a full schedule of events that will include autograph sessions, photo opportunities, Q & A sessions, on-field activities, memorabilia booths and much more!

Broncos Cheerleaders at the 2006 Fan Fair

Ticket information and everything else you need to know about the Denver Broncos Fan Fair here.